21-year-old Cal football player Ted Agu dies

UC Berkeley football player Ted Agu died Friday at the age of 21, according to the university's athletic department. (calbears.com)

February 7, 2014 9:34:34 PM PST

by Nick Smith

BERKELEY, Calif. --

Ted Agu, a UC Berkeley football player, collapsed while practicing with his team Friday morning and died a few hours later at an area hospital. The 21-year-old defensive lineman was a public health major and would have been a senior in the fall.

Cal Football Coach Sonny Dykes at one point had to choke back tears as he talked about Agu.

"This is something that is very hard on all of us; Ted's family, his football family, and the entire CAL community," Dykes said.

Agu collapsed during what the team doctor described as a "routine conditioning workout."

"I've been with Ted since he's come here and he never had any problems with any workout or practice," Dr. Casey Batten said.

Agu was admired for his hard hits and great tackles -- good enough to earn his way onto the team as a walk-on.

School officials wouldn't give details about Agu's medical history or any known risk factors, but did say they noticed he was having trouble after a supervised training run Friday morning. That's when one of the assistants stopped him. They say he was alert and communicating at first, then things took a turn for the worse. By the time they got him inside, Agu was unresponsive. An ambulance came and started CPR until he could be transported to Alta Bates Medical Center, where he eventually died.

"There is no greater tragedy than for us to lose one of our incredibly bright and passionate young people far too soon," UC Berkeley Athletic Director Sandy Barbour said.

Agu was well known for his warm smile and friendly personality. Word of his death spread quickly.

"It's always sad to lose a fellow Cal Bear and especially on social media a lot of people were sending out their condolences," UC Berkeley student Kyle Gaan said.

Agu was a member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity. He was from Bakersfield and graduated from Frontier High School there.